Think Together celebrates 25 years of afterschool and expanded learning programs with annual Raise A Hand fundraiser
Think Together, California’s largest nonprofit provider of afterschool, expanded learning, and school improvement programs, will celebrate 25 years of impact at this year’s annual Raise A Hand fundraiser event held both in-person and virtually on Thursday, April 21.
This year’s event returns as a live broadcast on YouTube at 7 p.m. with watch parties planned in Orange County, the Inland Empire and the San Francisco Bay Area. Raise A Hand was made possible by Think Together’s generous supporters and underwriters led by the Worah Family Foundation, Transformation Sponsor.
“We support these kids because every child should have access to high quality education,” said Anu Worah of the Worah Family Foundation. “Sponsorships and underwriting support for the event exceeded all previous years, demonstrating the community’s growing vision for expanded learning opportunities for students.”
Think Together was founded in 1997 as a single afterschool center in Costa Mesa and has since grown to serve nearly 200,000 students annually with direct-to-student and professional development programs throughout the state. Today the nonprofit operates at 600 schools across 55 districts and 26 charter management organizations.
“Even though we’ve grown to be in the top half of one percent of all nonprofits in the U.S. with more than 3,000 employees to date, we feel like we’re just getting started,” said Think Together Founder and CEO Randy Barth. “We’re starting to see a real investment in our work to enable us to scale so that we can provide equitable education resources to the millions of students who need it the most.”
This year, Think Together will honor the City of Moreno Valley and Moreno Valley Unified with its Champion of Change award for their extraordinary efforts in changing the odds for kids. Over the last decade, this unique partnership has grown in both size and scope, altering the trajectory of thousands of students’ lives and trailblazing new programs that support student learning.
Think Together will also award its Faces of the Future Scholarship Award to three outstanding students who were enrolled in Think Together’s program. Recipients will be given a $3,000 scholarship and a laptop to start their college career.
Think Together’s annual Raise A Hand event is free to attend virtually. For more information or to register, please visit the Raise A Hand event website.
About Think Together
Think Together partners with schools and communities to pursue educational equity and excellence for all kids. As a nonprofit organization, Think Together innovates, implements and scales academic solutions that change the odds for hundreds of thousands of California students. Think Together’s program areas include early learning, afterschool, school support services and leadership development for teachers and school administrators. For more information, call (888) 485-THINK or visit www.thinktogether.org.
Submitted by: Think Together / IdeaHall
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Trevor Montgomery, 51, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and operates Riverside County News Source (RCNS) and Shasta County News Source (SCNS). Both are stringer organizations, providing breaking news coverage and community interest stories for other mainstream media organizations throughout the two regions they serve.
Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers Valley News, Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; the Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County; and Mountain Echo in Shasta County. He is also a regular contributor to Thin Blue Line TV and Law Enforcement News Network and has had his stories featured on news stations throughout the Southern California and North State regions.
Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.
Trevor has been married for more than 30 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 18 grandchildren.